Monthly Archives: June 2015

Sehriban Sertkal, a deaf Turkish woman, has been formallyaccused of terrorism because of street riot last October.She was shot by police and badly injured at that time.What made the Turkish government think she was thesuspect? The government checked the hospital recordsamd learned that she was the only woman admittedthat day! She will have her day in court.

— scientist Kirk Langstrom liked to study the bats

Scientist Kirk Langstrom was said to be gifted forhis knowledge of bats, and their ability to hearunderwater sounds. He experimented with bats’blood to help humans hear better under water.The experiment went bad, and Kirk became deaf,and his body became deformed! It left Kirkvery bitter about it. Fantasy? Yes, it waspart of the Batman comics. A comic bookcritic said deaf Kirk is #1 on the long listof Batman villains.

— the “great” Kanye West cannot be captioned

Kanye West gave a recent performance at Glastonbury,in Great Britain. His language was not appropriate,and as a result much of his songs were notcaptioned. Deaf English people were not too happyabout it, because the hearing could catch everyword whereas the deaf couldn’t!

Just hard to believe but it is happening to oneaudiological center at a hospital in southern Odisha,India. The testing machine is broken. It has beenbroken for over a month. And for some reason, it isnot being repaired. And the hospital has not ordereda new testing machine. In the meantime, the line ofpatients needing to get hearing tests gets longerand longer.

— a question by a deaf Japanese person

A group of deaf Japanese people attended the recentHearing Loss Association of America convention.One of them was puzzled about the CI. He asked ifthe Americans have CI insurance then why someof them need to raise funds in the first place?He said his nation the national health caresystem completely funds these implants.

Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg is a famed Hollywood fertilitydoctor. One of his patients are Kim Kardashianand Kanye West. They wanted a baby boy, and Steinbergworked on it. But when a deaf couple wanted adeaf baby, Steinberg said:

No. We can’t do it because it may cause harm.We need to do things right

— a crazy TV commercial about life insurance

There was a commercial on TV about life insurance.It was about an angry deaf teenager accusingher hearing father for allowing her to beborn deaf. She was running around, veryupset about it. The hidden message wasto urge families to purchase life insurance!Geico? No way! It was a Thai life insurancecompany showing its commercial on Thai TVnetwork.

— pictures of USA national deaf basketball teams

These teams will compete at the 2015 World DeafBasketball Championships

the USA men’s team didn’t win the past Deaflympics;so the goal is to win the world championship this time

Even though Helen Keller died in 1968, she continuesas one of the world’s most admired individuals. Yetthere is a dark side to her that many people don’tknow. She was an advocate – pushing for women’svoting rights, for birth control and for rightsof workers. While she helped set up the AmericanCivil Liberties Union, she was a member of twoorganizations, considered radical in these days –Socialist Party of America and Industrial Workersof the World. She, however, was a great person.

— pictures of USA national deaf basketball teams

These teams will compete at the 2015 World Deaf Basketball Championships

the USA men’s team didn’t win the past Deaflympics; so the goal is towin the world championship this time

It is always hated when a deaf person says somethingor fingerspells something only to have the interrpeterbotch it up by saying differently. It has happenedone time too many over the years with DeafDigesteditor that uses an interpreter. This was the hotissue brought up in a workshop hosted by theexas Department of Assistive and RehabilitativeServices, Office for Deaf and Hard of HearingServices. This applies to interpreters, bothcertified and not certified!

— a newspaper columnist scolds the FCC

Bob Dyer, a columnist with the Akron BeaconJournal, a newspaper, ran a column thatwas titled:

Is FCC serious about closed captioning?

He was referring to one Cleveland newsstation that had serious real timecaptioning issues, leaving deaf viewersconfused. He said that while FCC has a longlist of captioning rules and mandates,it is not really enforced – worst thingis just a slap on the wrist! Thiscolumnist is correct.

Abreham Zemedagegehu, a deaf immigrant, was accused ofstealing someone’s iPad at an airport terminal. Hewas put into jail for six months – with no access toan interpreter and with no formal charges. He hasalways denied the theft. Now – the twist – thehearing person who accused the deaf man, admittedhe was not telling the truth. The Virginia judgeimmediately freed the deaf man.

— requests for interpreters backfiring against deaf

A deaf woman wanted to learn how to drive in Californiabut ran into no-interpreter issues at driving schools.And there is another one – a deaf woman from New Mexicowas given the run around twice when she showed up toobtain her driver’s license. They told her she musthave an interpreter – and rescheduled her appointmentfor that reason. She showed up, but the interpreterdidn’t! She is very angry about it. Times havechanged. Years ago a deaf person would write notesback and forth at the Department of Motor Vehiclesoffices – and were able to get licenses. It is abarrier right now – because of interpreting issues!Very troubling.